Database Guide
Filed and pending legislation for 2023: Use the “2023” checkbox below. More than 500 bills introduced so far. Bills carried over from 2022 are included.
Weekly updates: Bill information for the current year is updated weekly. New measures are added as they are introduced or identified by NCSL staff.
Two-year sessions: Bills may appear twice in carry over states. In these states, please check the last date of action to ensure the status of the bill reflects the appropriate year.
Select year as "all" to display measures from 2015 through 2021 in one list. Newly filed bills may take 1-2 weeks to be available in the list below, depending on each legislature's procedures.
Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs): NCSL began public tracking of pharmacy benefit management (PBM) legislation as a coded topic starting in the fall of 2017. As such, measures filed prior to this date may not display in the database.
Glossary of Search Terms
- Access
- State policies that affect the way in which patients obtain prescription drugs, including their availability through public or private health facilities or medicine outlets and pharmacies.
- Biologics and Biosimilars
- Includes notice or restrictions on substitution or interchangeability of biosimilars for brand name or first-approved biologics, also other measures that facilitate or limit biologic medications, or address coverage or costs. Note that measures on "Right to Try" are listed separately as "Rx Clinical Trials and Right to Try" in the check box choices above. NCSL has a separate Biologics online report that describes the fast-changing history of this issue.
- Clinical Trials and Right to Try – Rx Drugs
- State policies to facilitate, mandate or restrict pharmaceutical experimental use by patients, including clinical trials, "compassionate use," "expanded access" and "right to try" legislation.
- Compounding Pharmacy Regulation
- State policies to define and regulate sterile and non-sterile compounding pharmacies, including coordination with recent FDA/federal law; will allow a keyword search for 503B outsourcing facilities and other sub-topics.
- Cost Sharing and Deductibles
- Includes consumer-related pricing policies such as tiers, co-payments, deductibles, out-of-pocket limits (OOP), discount coupons, insurance reference prices and price disclosure.
- Coverage in Insurance – Rx Drugs
- Includes requirements and restrictions affecting commercial and ACA exchange or marketplace-related insurance. Also includes mandates, parity or essential health benefit bills specific to prescription drugs.
- Medicaid Use and Cost – Rx Drugs
- Medicaid use of coverage and cost strategies, including preferred drug lists (PDLs), supplemental rebates, utilization review, prior authorization, Pharmacy and Therapeutics committees and related policies.
- Other Prescription Drug Measures
- Includes a selective list of additional prescription drug bills or resolutions that may be of interest to state policymakers.
- Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBM)
- State policies affecting transparency of PBMs, maximum allowable cost (MAC) lists and PBM/provider disclosure. Also, includes measures to reform audit standards and certain contractual provisions between pharmacies and PBMs, including ‘clawbacks’, prohibiting gag-clauses that restrict pharmacists and ‘price-gouging.’
- Pricing and Payment - Industry
- Includes state required or authorized manufacturer rebates, discounts, generic and brand name drug choice, carve-outs, transparency and reimbursement formulas. Also includes regulation of formularies.
- Prescription Drug Safety and Errors
- State policies requiring safe and secure storage and sales of prescription products, including state-FDA compliance and coordination; also, mail-order, Internet and non-compliant marketing and patient confidentiality. Keywords: "synchronize multiple prescriptions."
- Specialty Pharmaceuticals
- Includes complex or costly medications, such as injectable and infusion products and many biologic products used for conditions such as cancer, organ transplants, epilepsy, Hepatitis-C.
- Utilization Management – Rx Drugs
- Includes use of commercial insurance and retail formularies, preferred drug lists (PDLs), prior authorization, utilization review, "fail first" state and commercial programs, fill limits and other requirements or incentive programs.
Excluded Topics - Not in this Database
This legislative database does not track bills or laws that:
- Regulate regular retail pharmacies or the pharmacists and staff they employ.
- Regulate illegal drugs or the illegal or dangerous use or abuse or prescription drugs. NCSL has a separate drug injury and abuse database and project.
- Would legalize marijuana, hemp or other emerging individual products. NCSL maintains a webpage specific to marijuana laws.
- Affect medical devices, 'durable medical equipment; or vision products such as eyeglasses or contacts; also veterinary drugs.
- Affect over-the-counter (OTC) or non-prescription products, except when they are included in covered benefits or treatments that usually also cover prescription drugs.
- Affect only vaccines or immunization products. NCSL maintains a separate web resource relating to immunization policies.